As a national treasure of China, traditional Chinese medicine carries a long history and unique curative effects. However, in recent years, due to the lack of effective protection measures, traditional Chinese medicine has been frantically registered by Japan and other countries, resulting in many secret recipes in the mainland falling into the hands of other countries.
The value and threatened status of TCM
Traditional Chinese medicine has a long history, with a unique theoretical system and rich clinical experience for thousands of years. According to the World Health Organization, 80% of the world's population currently uses TCM to some degree. According to the statistics of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China, the cumulative output value of traditional Chinese medicine in China reached 1.2 trillion yuan in 2019. It can be seen that traditional Chinese medicine not only has great economic value in China, but also has extensive influence in the world. However, the value of TCM has been seriously threatened.
Cases and impact of infringement of patents on Chinese medicine
1. Case study: In 2018, a Japanese company registered a patent for a Chinese herbal formula, which has been used in Chinese folk for hundreds of years. There are many similar cases, such as Tibetan medicine, Chinese medicine pieces and other fields, China's own pharmaceutical resources have been registered by other countries, which undoubtedly contributes to the loss of intangible assets of mainland Chinese medicine.
2. Impact analysis: The infringement of patents on TCM not only infringes China's intellectual property rights, but also causes a lot of economic losses. According to data from the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, the total import of Chinese medicinal materials and pieces alone was 195,000 tons, a year-on-year increase of 62.7%, and the total import value was 350 million US dollars. The infringement of TCM patents not only harms the interests of TCM enterprises, but also hinders the pace of Chinese TCM to the world.
Analysis of the causes and current situation of patent infringement of traditional Chinese medicine
1. Investigation of the causes: The causes of patent infringement of Chinese medicine are complex, including the imperfection of the current intellectual property system in the mainland, and the lack of awareness of intellectual property protection of Chinese medicine institutions and enterprises themselves. In addition, the strong strength and patent strategy of multinational companies are also one of the reasons why the patents of Chinese medicine have been infringed.
2. Analysis of the current situation: According to the statistics of the China Intellectual Property Office, as of 2020, nearly 1,000 TCM patents have been authorized internationally, of which China accounts for less than 10%. Japan, in particular, is crazy about mainland Chinese medicine Kampo. At the same time, a number of foreign enterprises are actively deploying in the field of research and development of traditional Chinese medicine, trying to take away the market share of traditional Chinese medicine from China. This situation has seriously affected the innovation and development of Chinese medicine in China.
Call for action to protect Chinese medicine
As China's national treasure, traditional Chinese medicine is not only an important part of the mainland's cultural heritage, but also an important support for the mainland's economic development. In order to protect Chinese medicine, we should strengthen protective measures and call on the government, relevant institutions, enterprises and citizens to take joint action to protect the unique charm of China's national treasures and make greater contributions to human health.